Eating Bugs

I thought it was a joke, but nope, it's not.  PBS is running numerous programs on why we should be eating bugs and worms to save the planet.  You can check it out here:  PBS - Why You Should Eat Bugs  I know that in the Bible, John the Baptist ate locusts and honey.  But I also know that at the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples ate bread and wine and most probably lamb.  No insects or worms were on the menu.  Jesus fed the 5,000 by multiplying fishes, not bugs.  

Image Credit

If you want to eat bugs and worms, more power to you!  That'll mean more beef, chicken, pork, and seafood for me.  I'm not going to eat bugs and worms, no matter how many documentaries they run on it.  (Something tells me, the folks at PBS aren't chewing on mealworms in their breakroom.)  But, I'm all for freedom, I won't stand in your way if you want to eat that.

There's plenty of bugs being eaten at Our Maker's Acres Family Farm, though - just not by us.  Check out some photos I took of some random bug eaters.  This guy right here.  A banana spider.  There are hundreds of these around the place.  We take sticks and twirl their webs around the stick and feed the spiders to the chickens.  They love 'em.

The banana spiders construct their webs overnight.  The webs are super strong.  If you aren't paying attention, you'll walk right through the web and it will stick to you.  That big ol spider will get in your hair and make you run around like a schoolchild!  They are just trying to catch bugs to eat.

Sometimes, they catch the friendlies.  Here is a dead honeybee that a banana spider got in her web.

The next bug eater, although I don't have a photo, is bats.  We have a bunch of them around here.  They come out right when the sun's going down.  Tricia was on the back patio the other afternoon watching them fly and eat mosquitoes.  More power to you, Mr. Bat.

As I was trimming the Confederate Jasmine the other day, I ran into this guy.  He's a pretty green lizard.  Check out what is sticking out of his mouth...

I zoomed in so you can get a better look.  This beautiful lizard was successful in catching a dragonfly!  That is the dragonfly's tail and the tips of its wings sticking out of the lizard's mouth!

The moral of the story is this:  I'm going to leave the bug-eating to the spiders, the bats, the lizards and the folks at PBS.  It'll be steak and rice and gravy for me.

I Never Knew It Was a Berry!

It blew my mind when I learned that Eggplant is a berry!  What?  How can that be?  Well, This Link explains it:

"Eggplants are berries because of the way they grow and their structure. Berries are fleshy fruits that grow without a pit in the middle. They must also come from one flower with one ovary.

Since they fit that description, eggplants are berries."

Look at this nice crop of "berries!"  I was doing my best to support all the eggplant branches so that they could hold the weight  by wrapping them around the wire cages that support the plant.

There are a bunch of blooms on the plants as well, a promising sign for a bigger berry harvest.

My wife selected two nice eggplant from the garden.  Purple, shiny, smooth.

She sliced them up like you would normally do to fry them, but she had other ideas.  (I looked strangely at her when I observed that she had not peeled the purple skin off of them.)  "You can't eat that!" I said.  Well, apparently you can.  The skins are nutrient-rich.  But you must do it with a younger one, and these were younger.  Tonight, Tricia was making Baked Eggplant Parmesan.  She got the recipe from https://www.loveandlemons.com/easy-eggplant-recipes/

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds.

Whisk 2 eggs and 1/4 milk.  In another dish mix 1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 tablespoons thyme, 1/2 teaspoons red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and fresh ground black pepper.  Dip the eggplant rounds in the egg mixture and then into the panko mixture.

Put the eggplant onto a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, Tricia made a marinara sauce on the stovetop.

Spread 1/2 cup marinara on the bottom of a baking dish, layer half of the eggplant and top with 1 cup marinara and half the mozzarella.  

Repeat with the remaining eggplant, the remaining marinara and the remaining mozzarella.  

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake 20 minutes or until the cheese is nicely melted.  Turn the oven to broil and broil for 2 to 4 minutes or until the cheese is browned and bubbling.  Remove from the oven and top with fresh basil.

This meal was a hit.  In fact, a home run!  We will add this to the rotation and will eat again and again as the eggplant harvest continues to come in.

Do You Hear the Supper Bell Ringing?

1 Timothy 6:8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

Our preacher often preached about growing up during the Great Depression.  He said that they were very, very poor.  He joked that one night they would eat beans and rice and the next night they would eat rice and beans.  He praised God that they never went to bed hungry and that growing up in the country on the Cajun prairie of Basile, Louisiana, God took care of his family.

Last week I posted about picking and shelling a good mess of purple hull peas from the garden.  They were in a big bowl in the fridge.  Yesterday Tricia mentioned that she has meals all lined up for the week.  I knew that meant she was going to be cooking my favorite meal this week - peas and rice.  The boys and I love this meal!  Tricia always says we're easy to please.  During lunch today, I drove to a meat market and purchased a pound of smoked tasso to cook with the purple hulls.

When I drove home and opened the door, I knew that Tricia was way ahead of me.  I smelled the smoky aroma of purple hull peas flavored with smoked sausage simmering on the stove top!  I hurried to do the chores of moving cows from one pasture to another, milking cows, and harvesting ripe stuff in the garden.  Finally done, we gathered to say grace and eat!

A simmering pot of purple hull peas with smoked sausage, onions, jalapenos, and tomatoes

The okra are just starting to come in, while the tomatoes are starting to peter out.  We still have a few tomatoes to "cook down" with some okra and onions and that makes for a mighty fine side dish.

Now a non-negotiable in this meal is a good piece of homemade cornbread.  Cornbread compliments peas and rice in so many ways.  My bowl was overloaded with this delicious, simple country meal. 

I used the cornbread to sop up the last remaining fragments of peas and rice left in my bowl and then pushed the bowl out of the way.  But alas!  The meal was not done.  Benjamin and Russ pick blueberries from our bushes each day.  The harvest has been tremendous this year with nice plump berries.  For dessert, Tricia made a blueberry tart with homemade coffee ice cream.

I think I hurt myself eating this meal.  I'm going to bed with a tight belly!  Believe me, I'm not going to bed hungry.  The meal is nothing fancy.  It is made with simple ingredients grown right outside the back door.  The Good Lord indeed takes care of us and we truly thank Him for letting us eat like kings.

A Few Father’s Day Thoughts

The Fam - Father's Day 2016

Father’s Day was a nice, relaxing day with all my kids coming in to visit and my Dad and Mom driving over as well.  We opened old photo albums from when the kids were young and reminisced.  We sat around and ate ice cream and peaches and bread pudding with rum sauce.  Overall, it was just a really nice day.  I hope that you enjoyed yours.

Saturday (Father’s Day “eve”), I was out in the barn doing a little work and just thinking about things.  The current state of affairs in our world is such that it can be really discouraging if you dwell on the issues facing us for any length of time.  In fact, trying to come up with solutions to our problems is a daunting exercise that often leaves me feeling that we are powerless to change anything.

In the 80’s President Ronald Reagan, in his election-eve address entitled “A Vision for America,” dismissed the fact that our days of greatness were over and that we were in a national malaise.  He was a great communicator.  While not a perfect individual or president, he inspired me and I thought he was a great leader.  Still, when dealing with the large issues we are faced with, I wonder how we as citizens can do anything to change our current course.

Ronald Reagan had another quote in which he said:

“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”

I think it goes without saying (or should go without saying) that all great change begins on your knees in prayer to our Great God.  While it seems impossible to grapple with the issues of our culture on an aggregate level, we really don’t need to.  Our foremost ministry and greatest responsibility is for the family that is seated around our supper table.  As Fathers, we are charged to be the spiritual leaders of our homes.

 

When I think about it in those terms, it is easier to get my head wrapped around it.  I find it is a great practice to hold hands and pray at the supper table, thanking the Almighty for his provision and praying for each other.  Then, as the family eats, engage in conversation.  Talk about dreams, plans, and goals.  Reminisce about good times and things that draw us together.  We like to pose questions to each other that spur thoughtful conversation like:

Ø  “If money was not a constraint and you could travel anywhere, where would you go?”

Ø  “Of our family vacations, what was your favorite destination and why?”

Ø  “What is your favorite candy or dessert?”

Ø  “What is your favorite food?”

Ø  “If you could have any super-power, what would it be?”

Ø  “What is your favorite movie?”

You get the picture.  We’ve started a new family tradition that we discussed IN THIS POST

in which we divide up the verses in the chapter by the number of people dining and take turns reading one of the Proverbs each evening at the end of our meal.  Since there are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, that means you read the entire book each month.

Things like this will hopefully build family unity, harmony and togetherness in a world that seems so fragmented, divided and antagonistic.  Does that mean that things in the family will always be serene and conflict-free?  Well, I’d like to tell you that these ideas will insulate your family from conflict, but they won’t.  The idea is that we’re trying.  We are very imperfect people that fall down repeatedly and try to get back up again and stay in the fight to reclaim territory that may have been claimed by the Enemy.  We hope to instill a sense of unity, a place of refuge, and a family identity.  We may never know if we’ve been successful, but we must continue trying.  I can’t comprehend as an individual how to have an effect on the national debt, gun violence, illegal immigration, abortion, Social Security, foreign policy, etc. etc.  But I can, as a father, at least try to have some effect on those that sit around the supper table.

I also think that the family is of utmost importance to God, as He created the institution of the Family.  I find that whenever you part from a family member, the last things you say to each other are usually things that are the most important.  Things like: 

“I love you.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“Take care.”

“Please let us know that you’ve arrived safely.”

“Keep in touch.”

"Can't wait to see you again!"

I find it very interesting that the last book of the Old Testament is Malachi.  Between Malachi and the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, there was a span of 400 years.  These were called “The Silent Years.”  The last thing said in Malachi before the 400 silent years was the following:

Malachi 4:5-6 (NASB)

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ⁶ He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Our God is in the restoration business and it seems He is very interested in restoring the family – fathers to children and children to fathers.  And that gives me great hope.

Having an Outdoor Supper

It was cool the other night.  Tricia made homemade tortillas, chicken and Mexican rice and suggested that we build a fire outdoors and eat outside.  Good idea!  While she finished up with supper, Benjamin and I got a fire going with numerous oak and pecan branches that had fallen all throughout the yard during winter storms.

We arranged several cut logs that we used as seats and set them in a semi-circle around the fire.  Then we sat down with our plates full of food, said "Grace" and enjoyed supper around the campfire.  It was nice to do this while the weather was still cool and before the swarms of mosquitoes arrive.  We looked up at a beautiful starry sky as we ate.  A cloudless night sky made the stars seem extra-bright and we remarked how looking up at them always makes us feel so small and insignificant. We also discussed the constellations and Benjamin pointed our Orion's belt.

It would have been a real trick to hold our plates while we ate, but Tricia served us on TV trays.  Do you remember those?  At my grandmother's house when we were young, she had some large TV trays that had legs that folded out and you could sit in a chair and watch Carol Burnett, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Rockford Files, or Wonderful World of Disney.  Now we try to eat at the table so the TV trays don't get much use.  Actually, our TV trays were made for 'breakfast in bed' as the legs are very short.

Gazing into the fire on a crisp, starry night 

As we enjoyed the evening and each other's company, we looked at the dwindling firewood pile that has less than 30 pieces of wood on it.  That is all that remains of the firewood we split from the large water oak tree we felled in the front yard 3 years ago.  We've burned a lot of firewood in the fireplace, but the wood inventory from that tree is low.  Fortunately, we cut 3 trees down this past summer.  If you look closely to the left of Tricia's back in the photo below you can see the stack of logs that need to be split.  Benjamin and I will work on that project before it gets too warm.

A campfire supper

We weren't alone for supper though.  Nosy Rosie showed up to enjoy the fire as well. The whole time we were there, she camped out right by us, chewing her cud and eavesdropping on our conversation.

Nosy Rosie joining our campfire meal

But she wasn't the only creature joining us.  The 3 hens that roost on top of the brick pile stretched and preened their feathers before fluffing them out and taking a seat for the night.  Up until December, they would roost on top of the firewood pile, but since that pile disappeared, they moved over to the brick pile.

The big water oak tree we cut down 3 years ago reminded me of something that I hadn't though about in a while and I told Benjamin about a job that existed back when I was in Elementary School that is obsolete now.  Back then, we didn't have Dry Erase boards or the computer boards.  We had blackboards (some were green) and the teacher would write our lessons on them with chalk.  The erasers were made of felt and after writing on the blackboard, she'd erase the board.  After a while, the erasers would be filled with chalk dust.  What to do?

Well, she would call on students to go outside and "dust erasers" against the big water oak tree that was just to the east of the school.  We would dust the erasers against the tree, banging them on the bark as billowing white chalk dust covered the tree and us with dust.  The tree seemed to always maintain a white tint that only disappeared in the summer.  The job of dusting erasers has gone the way of the buggy whip makers as time marches on.

Barred Rocks Roosting

After a little bit, Amy the heifer, sidled over and took a seat on what remains of the last hay bale. I'm sure this talk of dusting erasers was riveting and she had to come listen closer.  Although laying on the bed of hay is comfortable for her, it is a reminder to me of how wasteful cows can be.  Even with a hay ring, I estimate the cows waste a good 10% of the bale.

Chewing cud on a bed of hay

Finally Daisy came and sat down behind Amy and Annie, the dairy goat, did as well.  

With all the barnyard animals bedding down for the night, we realized that it was about time for our bedtime as well.  We told the animals good night, picked up our TV trays, and walked back inside, happy for the opportunity to enjoy the simple things in life like starting a fire and sitting around it with the ones you love, talking, laughing and enjoying the evening together.

Supper in the Back Yard

Nice Spring weather enticed Tricia, Benjamin and I to serve our bowls from the stove and eat supper on the back porch. Right after driving in from work, I moved the portable electric fence in the back yard.  Prior experience has taught me to be sure to position the fence away from the shrubs and trees.  Cows don't just like grass.  They'll eat the leaves off of most any plant.  Once I had the fence set up and the wire unrolled from the spool, I hooked up the solar charger, ensured it was "hot" and then went and retrieved the 3 lawnmowers so that they could mow down the back yard. As you might recall, they finished mowing the side yard last week.

These mowers don't emit the loud, obnoxious noises that a regular mower will give you.  You hear a "Crunch, Crunch, Crunch" as they stick out their tongues, wrap their tongues around the grass and pull.  It adds a nice pastoral, slow-paced atmosphere to supper time, hearkening back to a simpler time.  We need to try to do this more often.

Here's Rosie comin' around the corner now

We had harvested all of our cabbage and maybe I'll post about that tomorrow, but Tricia made a new dish for us to enjoy using some of the cabbage.  It is along the same lines of Cabbage Rolls, if you've ever had that, but these are not rolled up.  It is essentially rice, ground beef, cabbage and spices all cooked together into a delicious casserole.  When Tricia was recovering, this was one of the meals dropped off to us by some friends at church and we got the recipe.  To add some panache to the dish, we put some steamed fresh asparagus from the garden on top.  I know it may not look appetizing, some casseroles just don't, but this was a mighty fine meal!  It tastes good and sticks to your ribs.

Cabbage Rolls - Deconstructed

We ate and talked and enjoyed the nice view and weather.  Spring doesn't last long in our parts.  The amount of time that you can sit outdoors enjoying cool, dry, mosquito-free weather during the year is best measured in hours, not days, unfortunately.  We were soaking it up while we could.  We've found (through experience with teenagers) that if you ask yes or no questions, that's all you'll get.  As I've gotten older, I like meaningful conversations.  To spark conversation, we've begun asking open ended questions like:

• If money were no object, and you could go whereever you wanted to go on vacation, where would you go and why? or,
• If you could improve one thing about yourself, what would that be? or, 
• If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for and why?

It makes you think and you learn things about other family members in the process.

Daisy's comin' round the corner now

The cows were mowing down the grass in the backyard, the hens are foraging out in the pasture, and if you look closely, you can see Big Boy napping in the shadow that the chicken tractor is casting.  Daisy's tongue is out-stretched in the photo, exhibiting the process of eating I described above.

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch

It doesn't take long for the lawnmowers to have the backyard manicured.  As we ate, they ate, and in three shakes of a Billy Goat's tail, we were all done eating supper.

The ambiance of a nice meal at Chez Sonnier 

There's only one drawback to our 3 "lawnmowers" in the back yard.  That would be their EMISSIONS!:

Watch your step

You must watch your step when walking in the back yard after the yard crew leaves. While mowers powered by the internal combustion engine have emissions, so do ours. Both are foul in their own way.